Vic + Pete v Halifax

[vic+pete]

Hi all,

well this is our story so far ....

both hubby and i are just starting to claim our charges back from the Halifax totalling £4388 for 3 accounts... we asked for all our statements back in November and when we recieved them two weeks later we worked it all out (keeping the statements for evidence) then we wrote off to Halifax on 18th December asking for it all back... (made sure the letters were recorded delivery)

Since then, we've only recieved one leter on 21st (for my account) saying that they are investigating my complaint and will be in contact within 4 weeks!

so this is my question really.... can thay take that long to deal with my claim as i'm sure it said they only had 14 days from the date of the letter.. or was that 14 days to acknowledge my letter and not actually deal with it...

 

Also, when do i send the second letter saying i intend to take them to court? and do i have to state a court name in that letter?

 

Ok... one more last question... My sister in Law works for Halifax and when we told her what we were doing she said "thats all fair and dandy but they'll only put a flag up against your accounts afterwards and make it bloody dam hard to borrow any money in the future"

can they do that? she seemed pretty sure that they could as it was not actually on our credit file as such, only held on the Banks internal records.

 

well thats it.. any advice will be greatly appreciated.

vicki

[MARTIN3030]

Hi welcome to the site.

There are 2 ways to apply for bank charges back.

The first way is to follow procedures to the letter laid down on here that should get you a result.

The second way is to ignore it,take short cuts and listen to people who have not got a clue.

Take time to read further as you are getting close to the serious stuff !!

 

after sending the letter asking for it back......you then give them 14 calendar days to respond whether they do or not allows you to send the final warning letter the one before action.

After this you can begin your court claim.

You should find your local court is best option and NO you do not have to tell them.

The template letters tools and advice is all here.

I suggest you read up !!

[Michael Browne]

Also, when do i send the second letter saying i intend to take them to court?

14 days after the prelim letter ie 1st Jan

 

and do i have to state a court name in that letter?

No

Ok... one more last question... My sister in Law works for Halifax and when we told her what we were doing she said "thats all fair and dandy but they'll only put a flag up against your accounts afterwards and make it bloody dam hard to borrow any money in the future"

can they do that? she seemed pretty sure that they could as it was not actually on our credit file as such, only held on the Banks internal records.

 

I'm sure they do and it's not really surprising. They're hardly going to mark customers who claim as preferential customers. There are plenty of other high st lenders

[sues35]

Hi all,

well this is our story so far ....

both hubby and i are just starting to claim our charges back from the Halifax totalling £4388 for 3 accounts... we asked for all our statements back in November and when we recieved them two weeks later we worked it all out (keeping the statements for evidence) then we wrote off to Halifax on 18th December asking for it all back... (made sure the letters were recorded delivery)

Since then, we've only recieved one leter on 21st (for my account) saying that they are investigating my complaint and will be in contact within 4 weeks!

so this is my question really.... can thay take that long to deal with my claim as i'm sure it said they only had 14 days from the date of the letter.. or was that 14 days to acknowledge my letter and not actually deal with it...

 

Also, when do i send the second letter saying i intend to take them to court? and do i have to state a court name in that letter?

 

Ok... one more last question... My sister in Law works for Halifax and when we told her what we were doing she said "thats all fair and dandy but they'll only put a flag up against your accounts afterwards and make it bloody dam hard to borrow any money in the future"

can they do that? she seemed pretty sure that they could as it was not actually on our credit file as such, only held on the Banks internal records.

 

well thats it.. any advice will be greatly appreciated.

vicki

 

Hi Vicki. You set the timescales, if the bank has not responded to you within the 14 days you have given them then proeed to the next stage! No you do not have to name a court in your letter, all you have to do is send the letter before action stating you have asked them to respond and refund the money and that they have failed to do so (see library for template)

 

Re flaggin your account, there are much better lenders out there than these anyhow so dont be worried, you only have to look at the page where it states how much has been refunded by each bank to see Halifax has the biggest amount which speaks for itself!

 

Take care

 

Sue

[Rooster-UK]

Hi Vicki.

 

What you must keep in mind is that it is YOU that is bringing the action against the bank, so it goes by your timetable, not theirs. This is just one of the ways that the bank will use to delay and intimidate you. Don't fall for it....they know the score.

Your next step, after the 14 days are up is to send the LBA. (letter before action) which gives them additional time to reflect. 14 days after the LBA is sent then it's time for Moneyclaim-online or form N1 into the courts.

You don't have to tell them which court....they'll find out soon enough, if they haven't already settled.

 

Read the FAQs and the step by step guide in the library section.

 

Good luck with your claim.

Regards, Rooster.

[vic+pete]

WOW thanks for such a quick responce from everyone.. xxx

i feel a bit silly now, but i guess i needed some reasurance

i'll go through the links everyone has sent me and stick to the 14 day timetable like glue.

i was even making allowances for Christmas and the New Year, thinking "shall i give them a bit longer as it's the holiday season?" but since then we've got yet another charge of £30 for going overdrawn 14p for 2 hours!!!

[sues35]

You can continue adding the charges onto your claim until you file in court so dont forget to add it on!!

 

Sue

[MARTIN3030]

I am going to move your posts into the Halifax bank group and start you a thread there.

If theres anything we dont already know about the Halifax.........you can take it as not worth knowing about !!

[vic+pete]

hi all just a quick update...

i never did recieve a responce from halifax for our joint account (i sent 2 initial letters on the 18th) so i've used the template which i saw in the library section and i will update all the interest they owe us on both accounts on the 2nd, then pop down to the post office and send them off recorded as before (15 days after the first)

As for hubbys account (also with halifax) that inital letter was posted yesterday (also recorded) so we'll have to see on that one...

I've also gone through your step by step guide and am totally prepared to go all the way with this Bank! even if we do have to go to court, personally i don't care. i think its fantastic that this web site exists and there are so many people there with us, helping to fight back! thank you!! and we'll be in touch after the 2nd once the second letters are on their way xxx

vic+pete

[vic+pete]

i just thought i'd add our time scale so that others can see more clearly when we started and at what stage we are at...

vic's account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back 18th Dec 06

3 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter 21st Dec 06

4 posting off LBA (recorded) on 2nd Jan 07...

Joint account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years on 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back on 18th dec 06

3 no reply as yet (1st Jan 07)

4 will be posting LBA (recorded) on the 2nd Jan 07...

Pete's account claim:

1 recieved staements for 6 years on 29th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial (recorded) letter asking for money back on 30th Dec 06

[vic+pete]

Well everybody,

just a quick update really, posted off the two LBA's today for my account and the joint account. When i came back, checked the post and again there was still no word from halifax on the joint account's first letter... so they've had their first chance.. now its the waiting game for another 2 weeks' i guess..

getting a bit nervous now so any moral support would be appreciated.. just thinking what would happen if we lost at court.. (gulp)

 

 

vic's account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back 18th Dec 06

3 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter 21st Dec 06

4 posted off LBA (recorded) on 2nd Jan 07...

Joint account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years on 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back on 18th dec 06

3 no reply as yet (2nd Jan 07)

4 posted LBA (recorded) on 2nd Jan 07...

Pete's account claim:

1 recieved staements for 6 years on 29th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial (recorded) letter asking for money back on 30th Dec 06

[vic+pete]

you know, i've just been looking through some other Halifax threads here and wondered should i e'mail their head office (customer services dept) to let them know i've sent the two LBA's today and this is their last chance to settle in full before adding on court fees etc... perhaps it will jig them along a bit or it may promt a phone call from them..

half of me is not confident at all really coz its the "David and Golliath" situation isn't it... i mean who sues their bank?

anyway,.. i've started this fight and whatever happens i'm going to see it through so where's that stone and slingshot.....

[hillards]

What do you mean by 'not confident'? You've got this far and they've not bitten you...

 

You have to give them time to respond to your LBA now, you've given them a time limit, let them get back to you. You should get an offer letter, which you'll counter with the rejection etc.

 

As for the lack of correspondence - just stick to your timescale, send your letters as required and you should get the result. No need to send email - they'll get the letters.

 

They may telephone, make you an offer (probably just for one account), but they'll not try and pressure you. Just ask for it in writing, express your concern it wasn't closer to your claim amount - sometimes they just decided to settle there and then.

 

It's always worth asking them to check your other claims at the same time, if you reach that stage. Otherwise it's a waiting game.

[vic+pete]

NEWS UPDATE!!!!!

We got 3 letters in the post today! my' haven't Halifax been busy!!!

2 acknowledgments for our initial complaints (one from joint account - one from Pete's account) and a letter for my account with an offer!

apparently, as a "good will gesture" and in no way admitting that they owe us anything, they are willing to give me ....

wait for it....

£331!

now the original claim was for £419 plus £78.45 in interest, (497.45) so not that far off the mark... and to be honest, i was tempted.

But not that much.

So its the rejection letter i'll be sending back (in their own pre paid envolope i think)

and continue to count down the days until we go to court..

so the updats is as follows:

 

vic's account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back 18th Dec 06

3 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter 21st Dec 06

4 posted off LBA (recorded) on 2nd Jan 07...

5 recieved "good will gesture" of £331 on 5th January 07

6 rejection letter sent on 7th (recorded)

Joint account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years on 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back on 18th dec 06

3 no acknowlegment for initial letter, so posted LBA (recorded) on 2nd Jan 07...

4 finally recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter on the 5th Jan 07

Pete's account claim:

1 recieved staements for 6 years on 29th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial (recorded) letter asking for money back on 30th Dec 06

3 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter on the 5th Jan 07

[jaxads]

Hi Vic+Pete,

I'm claiming against the Halifax too. I received an initial offer of £1445, against £2281. I rejected this and they didn't respond to my LBA, so I telephoned them using the number on the original offer letter. I asked if that was the best they could do. The guy was pleasant enough and went through the usual spiel before saying that he'd get a new offer letter sent out, for the full amount, by 1st class post. I received that yesterday. Have a look at my thread and you'll see how quickly my claim has been resolved (well almost resolved, I've just got to sign off my acceptance letter and wait for the funds to magically appear in the bank account!) Best wishes. Jaxads x

[vic+pete]

Hello again everybody!

Just an update for you all...

Halifax never did get back to me regarding my rejection letter and they still haven't bothered offering anything for the other 2 accounts, so today i posted of Pete's LBA (recorded) and took a trip to the court with my N1 forms

So now we have reached the next step i guess... wish me luck LOL!!

 

vic's account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back 18th Dec 06

3 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter 21st Dec 06

4 posted off LBA (recorded) on 2nd Jan 07...

5 recieved "good will gesture" of £331 on 5th January 07

6 rejection letter sent on 7th (recorded)

7 (15th January 07) deliverd N1 form (and evidence etc) to court.. they now have 14 days to acknowledge my claim...

Joint account claim:

1 recieved statements for 6 years on 16th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back on 18th dec 06

3 no acknowlegment for initial letter, so posted LBA (recorded) on 2nd Jan 07...

4 finally recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter on the 5th Jan 07

5 (15th January 07) delieverd N1 (and evidence etc) to the court.. they now have 14 days to acknowledge our claim...

Pete's account claim:

1 recieved staements for 6 years on 29th Dec 06 (cost £5)

2 sent initial (recorded) letter asking for money back on 30th Dec 06

3 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter on the 5th Jan 07

4 (15th January 07) posted off the LBA (recorded)

[vic+pete]

Hello again everyone

this is just an update to let everyone know how our claims are getting along...

Well, since i took a trip down to the court with our N1 forms,(one for the joint account /one for vic's account) halifax got back in touch (ref vic's account) and offered £419. This was the whole amount for charges minus the interest and the £50 court cost. so i phoned them back and explained to them that i had already filed for court action and as such, the new amount they owed on this account was higher.

 

The chap i spoke to was unaware that we had even got to that stage with our claims, so i thought i'd take the oportunity to try and persuade him to settle there and then (in full) but he declined saying it was out of his hands and was now and with the banks solicitors (ho hum)

so that was that.

 

a few days later, we recieved our copies of the court papers covering the 2 accounts we had filed so far and so we waited....

The Halifax now had 14 days in which to acknowedge the claims....

 

3 days before the banks time was up, the court wrote to us saying that Halifax had responded to the joint account claim and intended to defend. buggar.

this meant that we couldn't send the balifs in just yet and they now had a further 28 days to file a defence....

However.... there was no news on vic's account...

 

In the mean time (back at the ranch) Pete's account was quickly coming up to its own N1 date and so earlier today (a few days later than it should have been) we took a trip back to the court and filed the claim for that account as well..

 

so thats where we are...

we'll let you know if we hear anything new xx

vicki

 

vic's account claim:

1 16th December 06 recieved statements for 6 years (cost £5)

2 18th December 06 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back

3 21st December 06 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter

4 2nd January 07 posted off LBA (recorded)

5 5th January 07 recieved "good will gesture" of £331

6 7th Januuary 07 rejection letter sent (recorded)

7 15th January 07 deliverd N1 form (and evidence etc) to court..

8 23rd January 07 recieved another letter offering £419.00

9 24th January phoned bank to reject offer

 

Joint account claim:

1 16th December 06 recieved statements for 6 years (cost £5)

2 18th December 06 sent initial letter (recorded) asking for money back

3 2nd January 07 no acknowlegment for initial letter , so posted LBA (recorded)

4 5th January 07 finally recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter

5 15th January 07 delieverd N1 (and evidence etc) to the court

6 26th January 07 recieved acknowledgment of service to say Halifax will defend the claim:mad:

 

Pete's account claim:

1 29th December 06 recieved staements for 6 years (cost £5)

2 30th December 06 sent initial (recorded) letter asking for money back

3 5th January 07 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter

4 15th January 07 posted off the LBA (recorded)

5 29th January 07 delivered N1 (plus evidence etc) to the court

[vic+pete]

WAY HEY!!!!!

WE GOT THE MONEY!!!!!!

:lol:

ok... this is what happened...

post man delivered 2 letters from Halifax today (one for my account, one for our joint account) saying they were going to pay up "without admission of liability" and we were to expect a credit of the full amount into the relivent accounts within the next 5 working days...

:D

that was wonderful enough

 

but when i happened to check my account this evening the money was already in there!!!!

so we quickly transfered it straight in to the ISA and danced around the room for a few moments

So that 2 down 1 to go.... Oh Thank you everyone and this site, for making it possible for us.. i'll be placing a donation to help keep it going xxxx

vicki

[vic+pete]

vic's account claim:

16th December 06 recieved statements for 6 years (cost £5)

31st January 07 recieved money in full (including court costs and interest)

Joint account claim:

16th December 06 recieved statements for 6 years (cost £5)

31st January 07 recieved money in full (including court costs and interest)

 

Pete's account claim:

1 29th December 06 recieved staements for 6 years (cost £5)

2 30th December 06 sent initial (recorded) letter asking for money back

3 5th January 07 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter

4 15th January 07 posted off the LBA (recorded)

5 29th January 07 delivered N1 (plus evidence etc) to the court :grin:

[jaxads]

Hi --- just wondering, how did you get on with your final account?? I take it that the Halifax came to their senses in the end

 

Best wishes.

 

jaxads x

[vic+pete]

Hi Jaxads!

Yep, Halifax did finally cough up on Pete's account although they were a little more stubbon with him. (only 3 days ago!!)

after the 14 days were up, we contacted the court and they agreed that halifax had run out of time...

so rather than going through all the paperwork with the court, Pete phoned the bank and told them they'd run out of time so it would be in their best interests to pay up now or its CCJ time....

The guy at the bank was.. umm.. audacious to say the least!

saying:

"it didn't matter what we did, the halifax was still not going to pay the amount we asked for"

Eh?

"it didn't matter what we did"???

hang on a minute here..

he knew it had gone to court..

and by now the 14 days were up..

and he still thought it didn't matter what we did??

is he mad?

surely he meant that it didn't matter what THE BANK did (rather than us) as by now we were going to get that money in any case...

... stupid little man.

 

well as you can imagine, the conversation was ended, we phoned the court, filled out the judgement paper and sent it off..

...13 days later the money maigically appeared in pete's bank account.(5th March 2007)

funny that.

 

so we've reached the end of our journey with the halifax and we won!

 

so to all of you out there still battleing against the giants, you keep on going as they'll pay up in the end. (even if they say they wont)

 

GOOD LUCK!!! xxxx

 

summary of timescales:

vic's account claim:

16th December 06 recieved statements for 6 years (cost £5)

31st January 07 recieved money in full (including court costs and interest)

Joint account claim:

16th December 06 recieved statements for 6 years (cost £5)

31st January 07 recieved money in full (including court costs and interest)

Pete's account claim:

1) 29th December 06 recieved staements for 6 years (cost £5)

2) 30th December 06 sent initial (recorded) letter asking for money back

3) 5th January 07 recieved "sorry you are unhappy" letter

4) 15th January 07 posted off the LBA (recorded)

5) 29th January 07 delivered N1 (plus evidence etc) to the court.

6) 15th february 07 contacted court as still no reply from bank..

7) 16th february 07 pete contacts bank to say their time was up and got gruff responce

8) 20th February 07 send paperwork to court to authorise balifs and CCJ against halifax.

9) 5th March 07 finally recieved all the money due (including court costs and interest)

[jaxads]

WELL DONE ---

 

Who are you taking on next ??

 

Jaxads x

[vic+pete]

well thats it for us really, we've got nothing left to claim. so we're just telling all our friends to log onto this site! xxx

[Funky_Monkey]

Congratulations on your win hope i will be lucky as you.........you can now relax and breath a sigh of relief it's all over :lol: